The 24-year-old has been progressing in the AHL \u2014 7 goals, 21 assists, 28 points and very little ice time on the power play. That\u2019s production earned the hard way: five-on-five minutes, defensive responsibility, and proving he deserves this chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously awesome,\u201d Samanski said after morning skate. \u201cVery excited to get things started and just experience my first game. You want to get a chance, so I\u2019m very happy that I can get the opportunity, and I\u2019m looking forward to showcasing my skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
The downside? Isaac Howard<\/a> was sent down to Bakersfield to make room. Howard\u2019s been playing well in the NHL, showing flashes of the skill and hockey sense that made the Oilers trade for him. But Samanski\u2019s earned a test at this level, and Howard getting some time playing 18 minutes a night in the AHL won\u2019t hurt his development. He\u2019ll be back. This isn\u2019t goodbye\u2014it\u2019s a temporary roster shuffle.Samanski\u2019s path to the NHL hasn\u2019t been conventional. He spent time in Europe before returning to North America and joining the Oilers organization<\/a>. The adjustment wasn\u2019t seamless, but he worked through it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think getting to North America again for the first time, a little bit of a learning curve,\u201d Samanski said. \u201cBut I think from staff to players, we did a good job helping me adjust, and I just felt really comfortable from the get-go, so I think I improved my two-way game, and it\u2019s been good there.\u201d<\/p>\n That two-way reliability is what caught Kris Knoblauch\u2019s attention. The Oilers need players who can contribute defensively, especially with the lineup still dealing with injuries and inconsistency. Samanski fits that mold.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s pretty reliable, so this is a great opportunity for him, and we\u2019re excited to see him,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cWe were just talking about Kapanen earlier about having a little more speed to our lineup, a little more tenaciousness and maybe a little bit of physicality, but he\u2019s a guy who can get in on the forecheck and play with some speed. He\u2019s not going to be trading chances.\u201d<\/p>\n If that wasn\u2019t excitement enough, Kasperi Kapanen is also back from injury. Again. Kapanen\u2019s had a brutal season\u2014multiple knee injuries, setbacks, and far too much time spent rehabbing instead of playing. He knows it. We know it. And he\u2019s tired of talking about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI gotta stop getting hurt because I have to talk to you guys every time I come back,\u201d Kapanen joked with us reporters. \u201cSo it\u2019s been frustrating. You never want to re-injure your injury, so hopefully, no more setbacks, and I\u2019m just excited to get back out there again.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s right\u2014we do want to talk to him every time he comes back. He\u2019s a great interview, candid and self-aware. But more importantly, the Oilers need him healthy and contributing. When Kapanen\u2019s on the ice, he brings speed and forechecking ability. He just needs to stay there.<\/p>\n And of course, all this roster movement means one thing: Andrew Mangiapane will be watching yet another game from the press box. At this point, it\u2019s not even surprising. Mangiapane\u2019s been a healthy scratch more often than not, and with Samanski getting his shot and Kapanen returning, there\u2019s simply no room for him.<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s about Samanski. A kid who\u2019s put in the work in Bakersfield, and earned his opportunity. The Oilers need depth contributions, and if Samanski can bring the same reliability he\u2019s shown in the AHL, he might stick around longer than expected.<\/p>\n Kapanen\u2019s back. Howard\u2019s down. Mangiapane\u2019s out. And Samanski\u2019s in.<\/p>\n Nugent-Hopkins \u2013 McDavid \u2013 Hyman Ekholm \u2013 Bouchard Jarry<\/p>\n ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 24-year-old has been progressing in the AHL \u2014 7 goals, 21 assists, 28 points and very little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-150838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Podkolzin \u2013 Draisaitl \u2013 Kapanen
Roslovic \u2013 Samanski \u2013 Savoie
Janmark \u2013 Lazar \u2013 Frederic<\/p>\n
Nurse \u2013 Emberson
Walman \u2013 Stastney<\/p>\n